Wandering Child Near Pool Leads To Mother's Arrest

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Daytona Beach, FL - A 26-year-old Daytona Beach woman has left Volusia County Jail after a Florida Department of Children & Families worker tells police she found the woman's 4-year-old daughter wandering alone near the pool of her apartment complex.

Maryam B. Crosby faces a felony charge of child neglect and misdemeanor possession of marijuana after police took her into custody Saturday afternoon at Via Roma Apartments on Derbyshire Road.

According to the Daytona Beach Police Department arrest report, a manager at the complex called the DCF worker after discovering the girl inside the fenced-in pool area and it was the worker who called police.

The DCF worker also told police it was the second time she had found the girl wandering alone, but no police report was filed in the first incident, per the report.

Responding officers say they found Crosby in her apartment soon after arriving at the scene and Crosby claimed she didn't know her daughter had got out of the apartment because she was asleep for over an hour.

The report also noted that the apartment was "not taken care of", with empty food containers in the master bedroom, no food in the refrigerator or the pantry and the 4-year-old and her 6-year-old sister - also found inside the apartment - wearing "dirty clothing". One of them also had their pants on backwards, per the report.

DBPD also claims several items inside the apartment which were potentially dangerous to the kids were easily accessible to them, including a bottle of vehicle antifreeze, a steak knife, a folding knife and over two grams of cannabis in a clear plastic container.

Bond information wasn't immediately available. The children were placed in DCF custody.

VCJ records show Crosby was also arrested in 2011 on two counts of contributing to the delinquency/dependency of a minor and possession of cannabis under 20 grams